Adventures in Time and Space

by Raymond J Healy

  Gaines stared at Van Kleeck for a moment before replying. “Van,” he said slowly, “you don’t really think you can get away with this, do you?”

  The little man puffed out his chest. “Why not? We have gotten away with it. You can’t start strip twenty until I am ready to let you, and I can stop the whole road, if necessary.”

  Gaines was becoming uncomfortably aware that he was dealing with unreasonable conceit, and held himself patiently in check. “Sure you can, Van, but how about the rest of the country? Do you think the United States Army will sit quietly by and let you run California as your private kingdom?”

  Van Kleeck looked sly. “I’ve planned for that. I’ve just finished broadcasting a manifesto to all the road technicians in the country, telling them what we have done, and telling them to arise, and claim their rights. With every road in the country stopped, and people getting hungry, I reckon the President will think twice before sending the army to tangle with us. Oh, he could send a force to capture, or kill me‌—‌I’m not afraid to die!‌—‌but he doesn’t dare start shooting down road technicians as a class, because the country can’t get along without us‌—‌consequently, he’ll have to get along with us‌—‌on our terms!”

  There was much bitter truth in what he said. If an uprising of the road technicians became general, the government could no more attempt to settle it by force than a man could afford to cure a headache by blowing out his brains. But was the uprising general?

  “Why do you think that the technicians in the rest of the country will follow your lead?”

  “Why not? It’s the natural order of things. This is an age of machinery; the real power everywhere is in the technicians, but they have been kidded into not using their power with a lot of obsolete catch-phrases. And of all the classes of technicians, the most important, the absolutely essential, are the road technicians. From now on they run the show‌—‌it’s the natural order of things!” He turned away for a moment, and fussed with some papers on the desk before him, then be added, “That’s all for now, Gaines. I’ve got to call the White House, and let the President know how things stand. You carry on, and behave yourself, and you won’t get hurt.”

  Gaines sat quite still for some minutes after the screen cleared. So that’s how it was. He wondered what effect, if any, Van Kleeck’s invitation to strike had had on road technicians elsewhere. None, he thought‌—‌but then he had not dreamed that it could happen among his own technicians. Perhaps he had made a mistake in refusing to take time to talk to anyone outside the road. No, if he had stopped to talk to the Governor, or the newspapermen, he would still be talking. Still. He dialed Davidson.

  “Any trouble in any other sectors, Dave?”

  “No, Chief.”

  “Or on any other road?”

  “None reported.”

  “Did you hear my talk with Van Kleeck?”

  “I was cut in-yes.”

  “Good. Have Hubbard call the President and the Governor, and tell them that I am strongly opposed to the use of military force as long as the outbreak is limited to this road. Tell them that I will not be responsible if they move in before I ask for help.”

  Davidson looked dubious. “Do you think that is wise, Chief?”

  “I do! If we try to blast Van and his red-hots out of their position, we may set off a real, country-wide uprising. Furthermore, he could wreck the road so that God himself couldn’t put it back together. What’s your rolling tonnage now?”

  “Fifty-three percent under evening peak.”

  “How about strip twenty?”

  “Almost evacuated.”

  “Good. Get the road clear of all traffic as fast as possible. Better have the Chief of Police place a guard on all entrances to the road to keep out new traffic. Van may stop all strips at any time‌—‌or I may need to, myself. Here is my plan. I’m going ‘down inside’ with these armed cadets. We will work north, overcoming any resistance we meet. You arrange for watch technicians and maintenance crews to follow immediately behind us. Each rotor, as they come to it, is to be cut out, then hooked in to the Stockton control board. It will be a haywire rig, with no safety interlocks, so use enough watch technicians to be able to catch trouble before it happens.

  “If this scheme works, we can move control of the Sacramento Sector right out from under Van’s feet, and he can stay in this Sacramento control office until he gets hungry enough to be reasonable.”

  He cut off and turned to the Subsector Engineer of the Watch. “Edmunds, give me a helmet‌—‌and a pistol.”

  “Yes, sir.” He opened a drawer, and handed his chief a slender, deadly looking weapon. Gaines belted it on, and accepted a helmet, into which he crammed his head, leaving the anti-noise ear flaps up. Blekinsop cleared his throat.

  “May‌—‌uh‌—‌may I have one of those helmets?” he inquired.

  “What?” Gaines focused his attention. “Oh. You won’t need one, Mr. Blekinsop. I want you to remain right here until you hear from me.”

  “But‌—‌” The Australian statesman started to speak, thought better of it, and subsided.

  From the doorway the Cadet Engineer of the Watch demanded the Chief Engineer’s attention. “Mr. Gaines, there is a technician out here who insists on seeing you, a man named Harvey.”

  “Can’t do it.”

  “He’s from the Sacramento Sector, sir.”

  “Oh! Send him in.”

  Harvey quickly advised Gaines of what he had seen and heard at the guild meeting that afternoon. “I got disgusted and left while they were still jawin’, Chief. I didn’t think any more about it until twenty stopped rolling. Then I heard that the trouble was in Sacramento Sector, and decided to look you up.”

  “How long has this been building up?”

  “Quite some time, I guess. You know how it is‌—‌there are a few soreheads everywhere and a lot of them are functionalists. But you can’t refuse to work with a man just because he holds different political views. It’s a free country.”

  “You should have come to me before, Harvey.” Harvey looked stubborn. Gaines studied his face. “No, I guess you are right. It’s my business to keep tab on your mates, not yours. As you say, it’s a free country. Anything else?”

  “Well, now that it has come to this, I thought maybe I could help you pick out the ringleaders.”

  “Thanks. You stick with me. We’re going ‘down inside’ and try to clear up this mess.”

  The office door opened suddenly, and a technician and a cadet appeared, lugging a burden between them. They deposited it on the floor, and waited.

  It was a young man, quite evidently dead. The front of his dungaree jacket was soggy with blood. Gaines looked at the watch officer. “Who is he?”

  Edmunds broke his stare and answered, “Cadet Hughes, he’s the messenger I sent to Sacramento when communication failed. When he didn’t report, I sent Marston and Cadet Jenkins after him.”

  Gaines muttered something to himself, and turned away. “Come along, Harvey.”

  The cadets waiting below had changed in mood. Gaines noted that the boyish intentness for excitement had been replaced by something uglier. ‘There was much exchange of hand signals and several appeared to be checking the loading of their pistols.

  He sized them up, then signaled to the cadet leader. There was a short interchange of signals. The cadet saluted, turned to his men, gesticulated briefly, and brought his arm down smartly. They filed upstairs and into an empty standby room, Gaines following.

  Once inside, and the noise shut out, he addressed them,

  “You saw Hughes brought in, how many of you want a chance to kill the louse that did it?”

  Three of the cadets reacted almost at once, breaking ranks and striding forward. Gaines looked at them coldly. “Very well. You three turn in your weapons, and return to your quarters. Any of the rest of you that think this is a matter of private revenge, or, a hunting party, may join them.” He permitted a short silence to e
ndure before continuing. “Sacramento Sector has been seized by unauthorized persons. We are going to retake it‌—‌if possible, without loss of life on either side, and, if possible, without stopping the roads. The plan is to take over ‘down inside’, rotor by rotor, and cross-connect through Stockton, The task assignment of this group is to proceed north ‘down inside’, locating and overpowering all persons in your path. You will bear in mind the probability that most of the persons you will arrest are completely innocent. Consequently, you will favor the use of sleep gas bombs, and will shoot to kill only as a last resort.

  “Cadet Captain, assign your men in squads of ten each, with a squad leader. Each squad is to form a skirmish line across ‘down inside’, mounted on tumblebugs, and will proceed north at fifteen miles per hour. Leave an interval of one hundred yards between successive waves of skirmishers. Whenever a man is sighted, the entire leading wave will converge on him, arrest him, and deliver him to a transport car and then fall in as the last wave. You will assign the transports that delivered you here to receive prisoners. Instruct the drivers to keep abreast of the second wave.

  “You will assign an attack group to recapture subsector control offices, but no office is to be attacked until its subsector has been cross-connected with Stockton. Arrange liaison accordingly.

  “Any questions?” He let his eyes run over the faces of the young men. When no one spoke up, he turned back to the cadet in charge. “Very well, sir. Carry out your orders!”

  By the time the dispositions bad been completed, the follow-up crew of technicians had arrived, and Gaines had given the engineer in charge his instructions. The cadets “stood to horse” alongside their poised tumblebugs. The Cadet Captain looked expectantly at Gaines. He nodded, the cadet brought his arm down smartly, and the first wave mounted and moved out.

  Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain, some twenty-five yards behind the leading wave. It had been a long time since the Chief Engineer had ridden one of these silly-looking little vehicles, and he felt awkward. A tumblebug does not give a man dignity, since it is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized on a single wheel. But it is perfectly adapted to patrolling the maze of machinery ‘down inside’, since it can go through an opening the width of a man’s shoulders, is easily controlled, and will stand patiently upright, waiting, should its rider dismount.

  The little reconnaissance car followed Gaines at a short interval, weaving in and out among the rotors, while the television and audio communicator inside continued as Gaines’ link to his other manifold responsibilities.

  The first two hundred yards of the Sacramento Sector passed without incident, then one of the skirmishers sighted a tumblebug parked by a rotor. The technician it served was checking the gauges at the rotor’s base, and did not see them approach. He was unarmed and made no resistance, but seemed surprised and indignant, as well as very bewildered.

  The little command group dropped back and permitted the new leading wave to overtake them.

  Three miles farther along the score stood thirty-seven men arrested, none killed. Two of the cadets had received minor wounds, and had been directed to retire. Only four of the prisoners had been armed, one of these Harvey had been able to identify definitely as a ringleader. Harvey expressed a desire to attempt to parley with the outlaws, if any occasion arose. Gaines agreed tentatively. He knew of Harvey’s long and honorable record as a labor leader, and was willing to try anything that offered a hope of success with a minimum of violence.

  Shortly thereafter the first wave flushed another technician. He was on the far side of a rotor; they were almost on him before he was, seen. He did not attempt to resist, although he was armed, and the incident would not have been worth recording, had he not been talking into a hush-a-phone which he had plugged into the telephone jack at the base of the rotor.

  Gaines reached the group as the capture was being effected. He snatched at the soft rubber mask of the phone, jerking it away from the man’s mouth so violently that he could feel the bone-conduction receiver grate between the man’s teeth. The prisoner spat out a piece of broken tooth and glared, but ignored attempts to question him.

  Swift as Gaines had been, it was highly probable that they had lost the advantage of surprise. It was necessary to assume that the prisoner had succeeded in reporting the attack going on beneath the ways. Word was passed down the line to proceed with increased caution.

  Gaines’ pessimism was justified shortly. Riding toward them appeared a group of men, as yet several hundred feet away. There were at least a score, but their exact strength could not be determined, as they took advantage of the rotors for cover as they advanced. Harvey looked at Gaines, who nodded, and signaled the Cadet Captain to halt his forces.

  Harvey went on ahead, unarmed, his hands held high above his head, and steering by balancing the weight of his body. The outlaw party checked its speed uncertainly, and finally stopped. Harvey approached within a couple of rods of them and stopped likewise. One of them, apparently the leader, spoke to him in sign language, to which he replied.

  They were too far away and the yellow light too uncertain to follow the discussion. It continued for several minutes, then ensued a pause. The leader seemed uncertain what to do. One of his party rolled forward, returned his pistol to its holster, and conversed with the leader. The leader shook his head at the man’s violent gestures.

  The man renewed his argument, but met the same negative response. With a final disgusted wave of his hands, he desisted, drew his pistol, and shot at Harvey. Harvey grabbed at his middle and leaned forward. The man shot again; Harvey jerked, and slid to the ground.

  The Cadet Captain beat Gaines to the draw. The killer looked up as the bullet bit him. He looked as if he were puzzled by some strange occurrence‌—‌being too freshly dead to be aware of it.

  The cadets came in shooting. Although the first wave was outnumbered better than two to one, they were helped by the comparative demoralization of the enemy. The odds were nearly even after the first ragged volley. Less than thirty seconds after the first treacherous shot all of the insurgent party were dead, wounded, or under arrest. Gaines’ losses were two dead (including the murder of Harvey) and two wounded.

  Gaines modified his tactics to suit the changed conditions. Now that secrecy was gone, speed and striding power were of first importance. The second wave was directed to close in practically to the heels of the first. The third wave was brought up to within twenty-five yards of the second. These three waves were to ignore unarmed men, leaving them to be picked up by the fourth wave, but they were directed to shoot on sight any person carrying arms.

  Gaines cautioned them to shoot to wound, rather than to kill, but he realized that his admonishment was almost impossible to obey. There would be killing. Well, he had not wanted it, but he felt that he had no choice. Any armed outlaw was a potential killer‌—‌he could not, in fairness to his own men, lay too many restrictions on them.

  When the arrangements for the new marching order were completed, he signed the Cadet Captain to go ahead, and the first and second waves started off together at the top speed of which the tumblebugs were capable‌—‌not quite eighteen miles per hour. Gaines followed them.

  He swerved to avoid Harvey’s body, glancing involuntarily down as he did so. The face was an ugly jaundiced yellow under the sodium arc, but it was set in a death mask of rugged beauty in which the strong fiber of the dead man’s character was evident. Seeing this, Gaines did not regret so much his order to shoot, but the deep sense of loss of personal honor lay more heavily on him than before.

  They passed several technicians during the next few minutes, but had no occasion to shoot. Gaines was beginning to feel somewhat hopeful of a reasonably bloodless victory, when he noticed a change in the pervading throb of machinery which penetrated even through the heavy anti-noise pads of his helmet. He lifted an ear pad in time to hear the end of a rumbling diminuendo as the rotor
s and rollers slowed to rest. The road was stopped.

  He shouted, “Halt your men!” to the Cadet Captain. His words echoed hollowly in the unreal silence.

  The top of the reconnaissance car swung up as he turned and hurried to it. “Chief!” the cadet within called out, “relay station calling you.”

  The girl in the visor screen gave way to Davidson as soon as she recognized Gaines’ face. “Chief,” Davidson said at once, “Van Kleeck’s calling you.”

  “Who stopped the road?”

  “He did.”

  “Any other major change in the situation?”

  “No, the road was practically empty when he stopped it.”

  “Good. Give me Van Kleeck.”

  The chief conspirator’s face was livid with uncurbed anger when he identified Gaines. He burst into speech. “So! You thought I was fooling, eh? What do you think now, Mister Chief Engineer Gaines?”

  Gaines fought down an impulse to tell him exactly what he thought, particularly about Van Kleeck. Everything about the short man’s manner affected him like a squeaking slate pencil.

  But he could not afford the luxury of speaking his mind. He strove to get just the proper tone into his voice which would soothe the other man’s vanity. “I’ve got to admit that you’ve won this trick, Van‌—‌the roadway is stopped‌—‌but don’t think I didn’t take you seriously. I’ve watched your work too long to underrate you. I know you mean what you say.”

  Van Kleeck was pleased by the tribute, but tried not to show it. “Then why don’t you get smart, and give up?” he demanded belligerently. “You can’t win.”